During yesterday's edition of CNN’s “At This Hour With Berman and Bolduan,” they did something that has been sorely lacking so far from a news network. They actually fact checked Donald Trump in the chyron during a segment about his policies.
At first I applauded this as so many of my online brethren did also.
The Hill: CNN fact-checks Trump in on-screen graphics
Huffington Post wrote: CNN Discovers Elegant Way To Call Bulls**t On Donald Trump’s Bulls**t
Think Progress: Did CNN Finally Call Out Donald Trump For Lying? (They Did.)
Media Matters wrote: CNN Chyron Calls Out Trump For Lying
TPM Live Wire: CNN Fact-Checks Trump's Nuclear Flip-Flop In Real Time In Its Chyron
Meditate: CNN Uses Chyrons to Fact-Check a Trump Speech on Nukes As He Gives It.
Mashable: CNN rolled out a pretty bold way to fact-check Donald Trump
But on further review, I find that this is a very distressing story.
Since Donald Trump started his campaign, he's been contradicting himself on a plethora of topics as the mood strikes him. Whether it's if the military will obey illegal orders, kicking out all undocumented workers, H-1B visas, absorbing Syrian refugees, banning all Muslims, knowing David Duke, keep or tear up Iran nuclear deal, positions on Obamacare, punishing women for abortions, just to name a few.
The media, for the most part has chosen to cover him for the sensational elements his campaign brings to the table, maximizing their ratings, but up until recently didn't hold him accountable like any other candidate would have been for their actions.
The fact that CNN is being celebrated for this "chyron fact check" exposes the flaws in delivering news and real journalism into the main stream of our society as well as undermining the credibility of journalism. This has allowed Donald Trump to get away with these antics and never have to pay a price for his actions.
This has been benefiting Trump, but not the American voter.
If CNN continues fact checking Trump in the chyron, it hopefully will bubble up into the rest of the media since they tend to copy rather than create.
All TV news outlets should have been following something close to this model that CNN introduced so that voters get to see the real picture, instead of only having surrogates on to battle out the merits of any given story.
